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regular old 5 volty type leds? could mount them in C4 AFAIK

Answered by Keith Gustafson
Posted Sep 24, 2011 11:57 AM ET

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Well....although my reply here will show how much more research I need to do:

I am pretty sure I mean the regular old 5 volt ones, but would there be other options in this application? And how do I determine when I walk into "insert local hardware store name here" that I'm buying C4 AFAIK? And if I did this.....could I secure the required approvals to market this project?

Answered by Krista Pegg
Posted Sep 24, 2011 12:41 PM ET

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Krista, what Keith was trying to say is that you could probably embed 5 volt LEDs in plastic explosive and be okay. If you're trying to develop a consumer product using foam plastic and electrical wiring, it will likely end up needing UL approval, and that would be way off topic for this website. Maybe you could try building study models of your design and see if anything catches fire.

Answered by TJ Elder
Posted Sep 24, 2011 4:19 PM ET

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Well delightful. Don't I look ridiculous? HAHAHA.
Thank you for your help. The foam plastic + electrical wiring was my concern. Nothing has burned down so far. So perhaps I'm good. I just wanted some input from others who know more about building materials than I do in hopes that when I go for approval I might not have to do huge amounts of re-design.
Again, thanks!

Answered by Krista Pegg
Posted Sep 24, 2011 5:56 PM ET

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The question I would pose is hot hot will the LED become? I know my 3-watt flashlight can literally become too hot to touch at the reflector/heat sink. This is not a good situation for the foam. Plus heat is the enemy of LEDs. That is why all higher-wattage LEDs have some way to remove it. However if the LEDs will be the typical cheap 1/4-watt I personally would not worry about it, they will not generate enough heat to be an issue (my opinion only, others will have theirs).